Catcher
by Lovetoread75
Summary: Ponyboy gets a puppy. Read to find out how it happens and how the gang, especially Darry react to that.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N so here is another story from me. Something I thought of while playing with my friend's dog. Also what do you think about my new avatar? I was at the store and saw these two toys and couldn't leave not buying. It was just screaming to me that's Ponyboy and Johnny:) Anyway hope you enjoy the story and leave me a review.**

It was December 23rd right before Christmas. This Winter December was very cold. I was walking through the park on my way home from school. It was snowing hard and the snow was prickly and harsh. I flipped the collar of my jacket up and put my hood on. I was walking fast trying to escape the harsh weather, the snow crunching under my feet.

I was about to exit the park when I saw him - a puppy drowning in a pile of snow and making a low noise. I walked up closer. The puppy was black with hair curling on his back, and big black eyes. He was all covered with snow. I walked up even closer- he was shaking from the cold. When he noticed me he froze and his big black eyes were pleading. I felt a pang in my stomach. Who the hell left him here, I thought. I remembered that I had a candy bar. "Hey, here," I stretched my hand with the candy bar. The dog moved back then carefully sniffed the candy and took it from my hand.

I kneeled down to his level. His eyes were looking at me, and there was as so much hurt in them. I thought only human eyes can express so much sorrow, but apparently I was wrong. I started walking away, then turned around. The puppy was still there, and he was shaking something awful. No, there is no way I can leave him there to freeze to death, I thought. I walked back to the puppy and carefully so not to scare him stretched my arm and grabbed him. He tensed up in my arms. "Easy," I said stroking his hair, "whatever happened to you buddy. I'm not going to hurt you." the puppy looked me straight in the eyes, and I thought he reminded me of Johnny.

I unzipped my jacket half way and carefully placed the puppy inside so only his head was sticking out, hoping he'll warm up a little this way. The rest of the way I carried the puppy stroking his hair and talking in a soothing voice. He was still tens and shaking.

When I got home I set the puppy on the floor, and went into the kitchen to get something for him to eat. I could see from the kitchen the puppy went into the corner of the room and was sitting there shaking. I found fried chicken leftovers in the fridge. I put it in a bowl and set it in front of the puppy. He didn't move. I moved the bowl closer. "Hey, you got to eat something." The puppy took a step forward and sniffed the food. Then he started eating. "There you go," I patted him on the back.

He was still cold, so I decided to give him a warm bath. I filled the bathtub with lukewarm water, and brought the puppy. I liked him a lot already, and wished Darry would let me keep him. I gently put the puppy into the tub and grabbed the soap bar. He seemed to relax as I ran the soap through his hair. After I was done I wrapped the puppy into a towel and set him on the bed in my room. The minute I set him free he got out of the towel, and started to shake the water off, the drops of water flying everywhere, and I couldn't help it but chuckle. I sat down in a chair by my desk and was watching the puppy in the corner of my eye. The puppy looked around then yawned. Then he stretched out on my bed and fell asleep.

In a little while I heard the door slam - Soda was home. "Pony, are you home?" he yelled. I went into the living room, "Don't yell," I said.

"What's the matter?" Soda looked up surprised as he proceeded to take his jacket off and throw it on the couch. "It's nasty out," he complained, pulling his boots off and then taking his socks off too standing there barefoot. "So what's the matter? Are you in trouble? Do you need me to defend you from Darry again?"

"No, no," I assured him, "let me show you something." I started walking towards my room, and Soda followed me.

We entered the room, and I pointed to the bed. "What a hell?" Soda asked, his eyes wide.

"Found him in the snow in the park, he was about to freeze to death." I replied, grinning at Soda and then added "Hope Darry is going to let me keep him."

"Good luck with that," Soda chuckled, and I glared at him. "Alright, alright I'm only kidding," he held up his hands.

The puppy opened his eyes, and he looked scared. Soda walked up to him and tried patting him on the back, but the dog moved back and started shaking. "He is very scared," I said, motioning for Soda to let go.

"I can see that," Soda replied walking back to stand next to me.

"You should go get some dog food from the store," Soda said next.

"That's a good idea," I agreed, "I'll go, and you stay with him." I searched my pockets, "I don't have any change." Soda took out his billfold and handed me a $10 bill. "Get the one that's for puppies not for adult dogs." I rolled my eyes, as if I didn't know that.

On my way to the store I kept thinking of what to say to Darry so he lets me keep the puppy. When I got back home with the food, I found Soda in the living room patting the puppy and the puppy licking his bare feet, Soda laughing at him.

"I can see you two made friends already," I said, setting the bag of dog food on the counter. The puppy didn't look so scared anymore. I put the bowl of food in front of him, and he started eating really fast. "He must be starving," Soda said, leaning on the wall, watching the puppy eat.

"We should think of a name for him," I suggested. Soda gave him a long look. "How about Cody?"

"Cody?" I wrinkled my nose.

"What's wrong with it?" Soda said.

"Dunno he just doesn't look like a Cody."

"How 'bout shadow, he's scared of everything." I wrinkled my nose again.

"Fine, then you think of something."

"I guess we'll figure it out later," I suggested, picking up an empty bowl and quickly washing it.

After the puppy ate he seemed more relaxed, and went to the middle of the room. I found a small ball on the floor and threw it at the puppy. He caught it and brought it back to me. I threw the ball a few more times, and each time the puppy caught it and brought it back to me. Then I crumpled a sheet of paper into a ball and threw it at the puppy. He jumped up, made a small noise, and caught the paper with his paws.

"That's a good boy, good catcher," Soda said, patting him on the back.

"That's it, that's his name." I said exiting the kitchen and walking into the room.

"What?"

"Catcher - that should be his name." I said thoughtfully.

"Hm," Soda was thoughtful for a minute, "I guess that's a good name," he grinned at me. I sighed, "I really hope Darry lets me keep him." Soda only shrugged in response.

Then I looked at the floor, and there was a small stain on the carpet next to the puppy. "Shit," I mumbled, running my fingers through my hair, "he peed on the carpet."

"Great, that'll help to convince Darry to keep him," Soda said sarcastically. It was almost time for Darry to get home so I sprinted to the bathroom cabinets where we kept cleaning products. I found carpet cleaner and grabbed a paper towel. I sprayed the carpet cleaner onto the stain, and was trying frantically to get the stain off. It wasn't working. You could still clearly see the stain.

At this moment the door opened, and Darry walked in. The puppy ran to the coroner of the room, and to my surprise, started barking at Darry. I looked over at Soda, and he put a hand over his mouth so he wouldn't laugh. Darry stared at the puppy – "Ponyboy what a hell is going on?" He inquired, putting his toolbox down on the floor. All of the sudden I found it difficult to speak. "You see Darry," I started, and the dog barked again, "I was walking though the park and found this puppy. He was freezing to death so I took him home."

Darry gave me one long look, "Alright," he then nodded. "I will get the address of the shelter from the phone book, and we can take him tomorrow." I was silent not knowing how to start. Then I cleared my throat and said, "I thought … maybe… I could keep him..." Darry didn't let me finish the sentence – "Absolutely not." He pointed a finger at me. Then I interrupted him and didn't let him finish either, "C'mon Darry, it's Christmas, it was meant to be." I said reluctantly, biting my lower lip.

Up to this point he didn't notice the stain on the carpet, and I braced myself for the moment when he would notice it. He sighed tiredly and dropped into his recliner. "Ponyboy, I'm too tired to argue with you, but having a dog is a big responsibility. You got to walk him, give him baths, feed him, take care of him."

"I can do it," I hurried to say enthusiastically walking up closer to Darry.

"And who is going to look after him when you are at school and we are at work?"

"I get home at three," I protested, "and besides Soda can check up on him during his lunch break, right Soda?" I gave him a meaningful look.

"Alright, alright" he agreed.

Darry still didn't look convinced. "Please Darry," I pleaded, "who knows what can happen to him at the shelter. It's Christmas it would be the best Christmas gift I ever got." At this moment Darry's gaze fell onto the stain on the carpet. "Ponyboy is this what I think it is?" His voice roared. I nodded, "he peed on the carpet, but that will never happen again. I will walk him as many times a day as needed. Please Darry," I pleaded again. Finally he sighed again. "Alright I'm giving you one week to prove to me that you can take care of him. If after a week I don't think you can, we are taking him to the shelter."

"Oh Darry thank you, you won't regret it."

"Alright, I see the dog has his food, but do _we_ have anything to eat?"

"I'll make sandwiches," I said quickly before he changed his mind.

On Christmas Eve everybody gathered at our place. Two- bit walked into the room and saw the puppy right away. The puppy was stretched out on the floor next to the couch. "Whoa who is this?" he chuckled.

"Found him in the park, he was about to freeze to death so I took him home." Two-bit picked up a ball from the floor and threw it at the puppy. The puppy caught it, and brought it to Two-bit. "Does he have a name?" Two-bit inquired.

"Catcher," I replied.

"I could see that," Two-bit chuckled again.

Dally was standing in the hallway observing, then proceeded to sit down on the couch. The puppy stood there for a little while looking at him and wiggling his tail. Then to everybody's surprise he jumped on Dally's lap. Dally cringed, while the puppy started licking Dally's nose. Dally looked like he didn't know what to do. "He likes you, man," Two-bit laughed.

"Right," Dally said sarcastically leaning deeper into the cushions. Then Johnny went into the kitchen, and filled a bowl with water and set it on the floor in the living room. The puppy jumped off Dally's lap and started drinking. Then he moved closer to Johnny, who was sitting on the floor watching TV, and rested his head on Johnny's leg.

"All right the food is ready," Darry called out from the kitchen, "Pony and Johnny set the table." We started setting the table, and the puppy followed Johnny around. Soon we were done, and everyone sat down to eat. This was one of the best Christmas Eves I ever had.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I decided to continue this story, sorry for not updating right away. Hope you enjoy it and please leave me a review :)**

Everything seemed to be going alright. I walked the puppy twice a day, fed him and gave him a bath. He was a lot of fun to play with. Johnny and Two-bit would come over and we played Frisbee with the puppy and took him to the park and to the DX with us.

On Thursday morning I got up at 7 as always ready to walk Catcher. I walked into the kitchen, stretching my arms as I walked, and yawning. I was met by Darry and he looked mad. "You are up, good. I was about to wake you," he said, fixing the scrambled eggs with a spatula in the pan.

"What's wrong?" I tensed up, leaning against the wall and looking up at him.

"You want to know what's wrong, let me show you what's wrong." He went into the hallway and grabbed what I realized were his shoes. As he held them up, I realized they were ruined because the dog chewed them up. "I just bought this pair," He said with a stern look on his face. He sounded pretty mad.

"Jeez Darry don't be mad." I said, running my fingers through my hair, not meeting his gaze.

"You were supposed to look after him, make sure that nothing like this happens." He put the shoes down and was looking at me expectantly.

I frowned, "I'm sorry," I mumbled, feeling really lousy.

"Sorry won't get me another pair of shoes." He turned the stove off and scooped the eggs onto a plate.

I swallowed hard, "Maybe we should buy him toys that he can chew on."

"Oh yeah? Where are you going to get the dough?" Darry pointed a finger at me, "Maybe we should take him to the shelter. I gave you a week…" he started.

I bit my lower lip "Please Darry don't take him to the shelter!" I almost yelled feeling my eyes tear up a little." It won't happen again, I promise."

"How can you promise that?" He was now pouring a cup of coffee.

"I'll look after him. I really, really like him. Please don't take him away." Darry sighed. He was silent for a moment. He was about to say something but at that moment Catcher ran into the kitchen and stopped next to me wiggling his tail. Darry gave the puppy one long look then looked at me. I must've looked miserable because he held up his hands in surrender and said, "Fine you can keep him." I was elated. I picked Catcher up and started walking to my room.

"Your breakfast," Darry yelled after me.

"I'm not hungry," I yelled back, stroking Catcher's hair.

"What are you doing chewing on Darry's shoes?" I scolded as I put the leash on him. "C'mon let's go for a walk."

We went outside. It was early, and the street was pretty empty. I was walking Catcher, but I wasn't feeling the joy that I usually felt. I realized that if something else goes wrong Darry will surely take him away. Then the idea dawned on me - what if I get a job. Darry didn't want me to get a job. He said I should focus on school, but Darry doesn't have to know about it. I'll tell him that I am going to track meet. I remembered a bookstore not far from school. I knew that kids my age worked there. I will ask if they are hiring and hopefully they need me. And I don't ever have to worry about Darry or Soda finding out because neither of them would step inside a bookstore to save their life. I smiled to myself -this was a good plan. I can buy toys for Catcher and good food for him, not the cheap shit we were buying.

When I got back Darry sand Soda were gone. I quickly ate a slice of chocolate cake and started for the bookstore.

It was 9 a.m., and I was walking up to the bookstore. I felt a little tense and butterflies in my stomach. I was nervous. I am not that good at talking to strangers or at making a good impression. I inhaled deeply and walked in, a little bell ringing as I opened the door.

There was nobody inside. Then a middle aged man walked in from the back. He was tall and bald and his glasses were all the way on the tip of his nose. "Hello," he greeted, "early bird huh? Are you looking for anything in particular?" I shook my head. "Well, let me know if you need help picking a book or something." He was about to go back in, but I cleared my throat and said hesitantly, "Excuse me sir… actually… I was wondering if you are hiring. If you need any help?" He turned around, "so you are looking for a job, why didn't you say so?" I shrugged feeling really awkward.

"Actually we could use some help, one of my best salesgirls just moved to another town. Do you have any experience? Have you worked before?"

"No," I shook my head, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot "but I really like to read and I know a lot about books." The man chuckled, "alright, alright Mr. I know a lot about books I'll let you try, we'll see how good you are. I'm Mr. Samson by the way, but everybody calls me Marty. I'm the manager." He stretched his hand out, and I shook it. "My name is Ponyboy." He didn't even try to hide his laugh – "what kinda name is that?" He chuckled. I felt my face go red. "It's just a name," I said a little defensively.

"Ok, ok don't mind me," he chuckled again. "Ok you can start next winter break will be over by then."

"Thank you very much Mr. Sam... Marty, I'll see you then."

"See you," he said walking back and then added "Ponyboy huh?"

I started walking back. I felt relieved, like I got things under control. I felt excited and nervous at the same time. How will I handle the job, how will I get along with other kids. Bookstores are not exactly places where you find greasers. I knew a couple of kids that worked there, they were middle class, but I hoped that no socs worked there.

At around 12 noon Johnny came by. We decided to go to the lot to play some hockey. I took 2 hockey sticks and a hockey puck. Too bad we didn't have skates. We would just have to run and slide in our boots. We took Catcher with us, and on the way there I told Johnny about Darry's chewed up shoes and about me getting a job. I made him swear not to tell Darry or any of the gang. He listened attentively as always, taking a drag on his cigarette from time to time.

"Sounds good to me," he said thoughtfully when I finished, "you are lucky that someone just moved." I nodded and looked at Catcher. He was running in front of us sniffing the snow and rolling around in it a few times. Johnny followed my gaze and chuckled, "it's really tuff that you have a pup, man," he said.

"Yeah," I nodded and said seriously, "that's why I'm so worried that Darry will take him away."

By this time we reached the lot, and immediately realized we won't be able to play hockey there. The place was all covered in snow that was pretty high, reaching above my ankles and almost up to my knees.

"Shoot," Johnny said, grounding his cigarette "want to try the park?"

"It's probably the same there," I replied walking in the deep snow, trying to make sure I don't get any snow in my boots, "we should go to the river, play on real ice." I suggested.

"Good idea" Johnny agreed, grinning at me.

"C'mon Catcher let's go," I gave out a little whistle, and Catcher ran up to me and started running alongside the road.

The river was not that far, and we reached it pretty soon.

"Too bad we don't' have skates," Johnny sighed, hitting the ice with his hockey stick to check if it was strong enough.

"Tell me about it, man" I replied. Maybe with this job, I thought, I'd be able to get a pair of skates and I'll get Johnny one too.

"Is it strong enough?" I asked as I stepped on the ice with one foot and pressed. Johnny stepped onto the ice carefully and tried it with his feet too. The ice was strong and firm. "I think it's good to go," I said, taking the puck out of my pocket and throwing it on the ice. Johnny nodded, "I think so too."

We started pushing the puck back and forth, sliding on our feet on the ice. Catcher was running back and forth as we passed the puck back and forth with our sticks. We have been there for about an hour when I passed the puck to Johnny, but missed, the puck flying all the way to the middle of the ice. I was going to go get it but Johnny ran ahead of me "I'll get it man." He started walking and then running a little to the middle of the ice. That was a mistake. I guess the ice was not as strong and firm all over, because it cracked under Johnny's feet, and now Johnny's leg was in the water. "Oh man," escaped my lips.

"It's ok, I'm ok," Johnny protested as he tried to take his foot out of the water, but instead the ice cracked under his other foot and the next thing I knew he was in the water up to his waist.

A small scream escaped his lips –"it's really freezing." He grabbed the ice with his hands, trying to pull himself out of the water, but he wasn't successful. The minute he leaned on the ice it cracked. I felt panic - what a hell am I supposed to do? I thought. "Hang on Johnny," I yelled, grabbing the hockey stick. Catcher was running in front of me all the way. Carefully I stepped on the ice and stretched my arm with the stick for Johnny to grab. He did, but the minute he started pulling himself out, I felt the ice crack under my feet. Shit, shit, shit was all that was going through my mind as I found myself in the water. I looked at Johnny - he was struggling with the water, trying not to go down. It was my stupid idea, now I got us both drowned, was all I could think of. So much for starting a job, I thought dully.

I felt like I was going to pass out, falling deeper and deeper into the water. "Hang on man," Johnny managed through clenched teeth and grabbed my hand under the water, "hang on man," he repeated. Then he started moving and kept grabbing the ice, but it just kept cracking. In the corner of my eye I saw Catcher make a small noise then take off. Sorry buddy, I thought, now you are in the same situation as I found you - all alone left to freeze to death in the snow. At least you won't chew on Darry's shoes I thought bitterly, and right away mentally scolded myself for thinking that - how can I think of something like that at a moment like this.

The water was freezing, and I couldn't take it much longer. It was all my fault, it was such a stupid idea to play on the ice and now I'm going to die, and not only that, but I'm going to drag Johnny with me.

After what seemed eternity I felt like giving up. I couldn't breathe right, and I stopped grabbing the ice. I was about to go down deeper into the water when I heard barking. I looked up and saw Catcher running and after him Soda. When Soda saw Johnny and me in the water he was startled. "Hang on I'll think of something," he yelled, and his voice was shaking. "I'm going to pull you out!"

Johnny appeared chocking on water and he removed his hands from the ice and started going down. "No way Johnnycake," I grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. At this moment Soda dropped down on the ice on his stomach and started crawling towards us. He grabbed the hockey stick on the way. Why hadn't I thought of crawling instead of walking I wouldn't be in the water now if I had.

I was holding Johnny, but it was difficult. Soda reached the distance from where the hockey stick could reach us. "Grab it," he ordered. "C'mon Johnny you go first, grab the stick," I pushed him a little towards the stick. He seemed unable to move, his fingers were frozen and his lips were really blue now. "Please Johnny," I pleaded. He nodded, and moved towards the hockey stick but started to go down. "I… I can't," he managed through clenched teeth.

"Please Johnny, you can," I prompted. I was shaking and it wasn't all from the cold water. Finally Johnny reached out and grabbed the stick with his frozen fingers. Soda started to pull. Johnny's fingers slipped, and he fell back into the water. I started crying. I wasn't so concerned about myself, though of course I wanted to live, but it was really killing me that I dragged Johnny into it.

"It's ok, it's ok buddy," Soda said in a soothing voice, "let's try again you can do this." Johnny grabbed on the hockey stick again, and Soda started pulling the stick. I managed to grab Johnny at the waist and give him a push up.

Gradually Soda pulled him out of the water in a way that he was on his stomach on the ice. "You crawl back there," Soda ordered.

Johnny crawled all the way to the solid ground, and I exhaled in relief. My fingers were frozen too, but I was in a better shape than Johnny. I grabbed the stick and held on to it with all my strength. Soda started pulling. I gritted my teeth and held on to the stick. Finally, I was on the ice, flat on my stomach. I felt all the energy drained out of me and I was unable to move. "C'mon Pony," Soda, who was lying on the ice next to me said, his voice was quivering.

"I… can't," I managed. Soda grabbed my hand, "we'll go together," he started crawling on the ice, dragging me along with him.

Finally we reached the ground. I turned onto my back, and was just lying there unable to move. Catcher ran up to me, and grabbed the sleeve of my jacket with his teeth and started pulling. "Good boy," I managed a weak smile. Soda, who was now on his feet, smiled too – "when he showed up at the DX alone without you, I figured something was wrong. He saved you man."

"He sure did," I patted the dog on his head, then I looked up to see what Johnny was doing. He was sitting up coughing up water and breathing heavily, but his lips were a normal color, they were no longer blue.

Soda took his jacket off and gave it to me, "here you'll feel warmer." "Give it to Johnny," I managed, staring into the distance.

"Are you sure?" Soda furrowed his eyebrows. I nodded, but Johnny refused to take it too. "Keep it Soda," he said simply, "or you'll catch pneumonia." So Soda put the jacket back on.

"I wish I had the car," Soda said, picking up the hockey sticks and putting the puck in his pocket, "but I had to follow Catcher, so I had to walk."

"It's ok, don't worry about it Soda, we'll walk," Johnny said trying to get up and managing to after a few attempts.

"Thanks Soda," I said sounding dead serious and looking him straight in the eyes, "if not for you I don't know what would've happened." Soda just gave me a look and his face was really pale.

"Let's go before you two freeze to death." He said next, helping me get up. So we started a walk home. It was difficult to walk in all this wet clothes but I was not complaining. It finally settled in my mind that I could've died today. I looked at Catcher who was running ahead of us. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

Johnny was walking next to me. But he suddenly stopped and put his hands on his stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick," he said weakly.

"Go ahead we'll wait," I managed stopping and feeling a little dizzy. He stepped aside and threw up, then we kept walking. We were walking through piles of snow, the snow getting into my boots. I didn't feel so weak anymore I was getting my strength back. What is Darry going to say I thought reluctantly. He'll tell me again that I don't use my head and he'll be right this time, we had no business being on that ice.

When we got home the first thing Soda made us do was change out of the wet clothes. He brought towels and dry clothes for both of us. "I'll make a warm bath Johnny you go first." He said affectionately.

"Ok," Johnny nodded trying to get the snow out of his hair.

While Johnny was taking a bath Soda made me a cup of hot tea. It warmed me up, and I felt better. After Johnny was done, I took the warm bath too. I was feeling much better. But I felt so much guilt that Johnny almost died because of my stupidity. He was now sitting on the couch, his wet hair dripping onto the floor, drinking hot tea.

I got up and sat down next to him, "Listen man," I said firmly, "I'm sorry." He looked at me from under his bangs, placing his cup on the armrest of the couch "what for?"

"For today, for this, I mean it was a stupid idea." I sighed.

He frowned, "Don't worry about it man it's not your fault."

"Sure it is, it was my idea."

He shook his head, "So what? I could've said no, but I didn't think of it."

I was about to say something else when the door opened and Darry walked in. Time to face the music I braced myself. Darry looked at our wet hair and a pile of wet clothes on the floor. "What's going on?"He turned to Soda.

"I can explain," I yelled, getting up from the couch and taking a step forward, before Soda had a chance to speak.

"Please do," Darry turned his attention to me. I was dreading it, but I had to say something.

"We were playing hockey on the ice and we fell through." Darry looked shocked and lost for words. "It was all my idea," I said bitterly. I needed to make sure that he knew it wasn't Johnny who got us in trouble. The look on Darry's face was that of deep concern, "But you are ok now?" he sighed. I nodded. "Catcher, saved us," I said quietly.

"Catcher?"

"He ran and got Soda, and Soda managed to pull us out."

"Catcher went to get Soda?"I nodded.

"He knew to go to the DX and get him?" I nodded again.

Darry seemed to have a hard time believing that. This was to my advantage since while he was deciding if he should believe that Catcher ran to the DX, he was not yelling at me or punishing me.

Finally he turned to Soda. "Did he really run to the DX?"

"Yep," Soda said firmly, "he sure did, and when I saw him all alone without Pony I knew that something was wrong so I just followed him." As if he knew that we were talking about him Catcher ran into the room and stopped next to Darry, looking up at him. Darry petted the dog awkwardly. Then Soda proceeded to tell Darry the whole story how he followed Catcher and how he pulled us out. I was silent waiting for my punishment, but to my surprise Darry just sighed plopping into his recliner. "I'm really glad you guys are ok," was all he said. I waited for the next sentence to be 'you are grounded for a week' or something along those lines, but he only sighed again, "Soda can you please start on dinner? I'm really tired today."


	3. Chapter 3

**So here is the next chappie, I'll try to update every week or at least every other week. Please enjoy and leave me a review:)**

On Monday at 9a.m. I was at the bookstore. I walked in nervously, and two guys walked up to me. "Do you need help with anything?" one of them asked. There weren't any customers in the store, and the guys seemed bored. I cleared my throat, "I need to see Marty, I'm starting working today."

"So you are the new guy huh?" one of the guys asked looking curiously at me. I nodded.

"Marty-y-y," one of them yelled not bothering to go get him. Marty walked in "what are you yelling like that for?" Then he noticed me.

"You are here, c'mon with me to the back I'll give you your uniform." I walked in and took my jacket off. He handed me a blue shirt which I put over the t-shirt I was wearing.

"So you've met Nick and Chris," Marty said, and I nodded. Then he pointed to a cart full of books, "these need to be shelved. The category is marked on the books. Put suspense with suspense, drama with drama and so on. Got it?" I nodded, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans.

"Ok get going."

I wheeled the cart into the room. I was kind of nervous for the first day, but excited at the same time, and I really admired all the books - so many of them, noting the ones I've read – Great Expectations, Uncle Tom's Cabin, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Gadfly.

Soon one of the guys walked up to me. He was wearing the store shirt too, but he was also wearing jeans so I figured he wasn't a soc.

"So I'm Nick," he said, "and this is Chris, what's your name?" I dreaded this – "my name is Ponyboy." I said not looking at him, and staring at the books instead. He snorted, "I mean your real name."

"It's my real name," I said finally looking up at him, and added, "I guess my dad had a sense of humor or something." He looked puzzled then waved Chris over. "Hey, guess what his name is."

"What?"

"It's Ponyboy." Chris stared at me like I had horns growing out of my head then said "that your real name?" I nodded swallowing hard.

"Well don't break your neck shelving all those books," he laughed and added " _Ponyboy_ " emphasizing my name.

The two guys weren't nasty to me, but they weren't exactly friendly either. They kept bossing me around, making me dust the shelves and sweep the floor while they were upfront supposedly helping the customers, but there were no customers this time of day so they were just goofing around in the front while I broke a sweat cleaning. I didn't let that get to me. I just did the work, reminding myself that I'm getting paid for this and I will be able to buy toys for Catcher.

At around 4p.m. Nick and Chris took a break. I was alone for a while, but then Marty came out from the back and was watching me like a Hawk, making me self-conscious. In about five minutes a couple walked in. I rushed to help them –"Can I help you with anything?" I called out, trying to make eye contact.

"Something easy to read and good for the soul, inspiring even," the woman said. "And some suspense for me," the man added. I was nervous because Marty was watching. I needed this job for Catcher, and I felt like I should be good at this since I read so much. I quickly remembered the books I just shelved. "How about Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck? It's about a couple surviving the great depression. I recently read this book and found it very inspirational." The woman seemed interested. I grabbed the book form the shelf and handed it to her. She flipped through it and read the synopsis on the cover. "And for you sir may I suggest The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith. It's a collection o f suspense stories." I got the book form the shelf.

Both of them purchased the books, and Marty seemed pleased. "Alright you seem to be good with the customers," he said and went to the back again. I guess now that he'd seen I can handle the customers he trusted me to be alone.

In a few minutes the door opened again, and my heart sank – two socs walked in. One tall with red hair and mustache. He was wearing an expensive leather jacket with sheep's wool lining that was on the sleeves and the hood. The other one was short and chubby. He had dirty blond hair and brown eyes. He was glaring at me squinting. I recognized the tall one - he was in my advanced math class. He gave me plenty of trouble. His name was Eric, and he was a real jerk. The chubby one I didn't have any classes with but I'd seen him around school.

They saw me and stopped by the door puzzled. For a moment we had this staring match – they stared at me and I stared at them. I was wearing the store uniform so it was obvious that I worked there. The first day and I'm already getting it with the socs I thought bitterly. Finally Eric spoke up, "You?" He said in disbelief. "What are _you_ doing here grease?" He pointed a finger at me and added, "Greasers don't read." I wanted to tell him off really badly, but I was working and they were customers, and the customer is always right. I was sure Marty wouldn't appreciate it if I started something. So I kept silent and looked away.

"So you like to read," the short one snorted. "Do you read in your trailer while getting drunk?" I kept silent, hoping they'd get bored of insulting me and would leave, but I couldn't be more wrong.

"You have no business here," the tall one spoke up again, "go back to your trashy friends." I've had just enough of this – "you go back to _your_ trashy friends," I said through clenched teeth, but not loud so Marty wouldn't here.

"What'd you say to me? You fucking dirt."

Eric stepped forward and pushed me in the chest. I took a few steps back and bumped into a bookshelf, all the books falling down with a loud noise. The socs started laughing. I rushed to pick up the books. "Work it grease," the short one snorted again. "You, dirt," he added. "You are the dirt," I yelled.

I guess we were getting pretty loud, because Marty walked in from the back. "What a hell is going on here?" We were silent.

"You have to be ashamed of yourselves young men. What are you doing walking around causing trouble? Now if you are not buying anything beat it." They turned to leave, and they looked like they wanted to spit at me. "This is not the end of it," the tall one said through clenched teeth and bumped me with his shoulder as he was passing by on the way to the exit.

"You know these fools?" Marty asked when they left.

"Sort of," I replied, still picking up the books. I was concerned that Marty would not want to keep me after the incident, but he turned to me and said "Ok you've been doing a pretty good job so far," and with that he went to the back again.

Soon Nick and Chris were back, and again they hung out in the front while I was by the register which I didn't mind too much.

At the end of the week I got my first paycheck - $60. It was a lot of money for me. Definitely much more than my allowance. The first thing I did was go to the pet store. There were so many toys I didn't know which ones to get. Finally I got a bone shaped rubber toy. I figured Catcher may want to chew on that. I also got a small soccer ball, a caterpillar toy that made noises when you press on it and a squirrel toy that ran on battery. I also got really expensive dog food. I loaded everything into my backpack and started for home.

When I got home both Darry and Soda were already home.

"You're home late," Soda noted. He already finished eating and was bringing his plate to the sink.

"Long practice," I lied, taking my jacket off, and hoping that my face didn't turn red.

"Ok, go wash up," Darry said, "I'll heat up your dinner." I went to my room, Catcher meeting me half way. He ran up to me, and I picked him up. He licked my nose a few times, and I stroke his hair. "Have you been a good boy?" I said when we were in my room. "No more chewing on Darry's shoes."

I opened the bag and took out the ball. Catcher jumped onto the bed and stuck his head into the bag. He smelled the food. I took his bowl, which was in the room, and filled it with the food. He was done with it in no time. Then I took out the bone toy and the other toys. He grabbed the bone and started chewing on it. That'll do the trick, I chuckled. I took the empty bowl and moved it under the bed. Catcher wiggled his tail and ran out of the room with the bone in his mouth.

I went into the kitchen.

"Where'd you get that?" Darry pointed at Catcher's toy. I had prepared my answer in advance.

"This kid Alex gave me a few toys. His dog just died." I said leaning against the counter. Both Darry and Soda seemed to buy that answer, and I felt relieved.

On Sunday at around 7p.m. it was time to walk Catcher. I put the leash on him. I was planning to stop by the school yard and run a few laps. Now that I quit track because of my job I missed running. I put my running shoes on, my jacket and walked out.

It hadn't been snowing for a few days, and in any case they clear the snow on the tracks at the school yard. It was empty, no one there, and I started running, Catcher running along with me. The sun started setting and then it started to get dark. I was going to run a little longer and then head home.

Suddenly I was blinded by the headlights of a car. I haven't noticed it before. I froze and instinctively grabbed Catcher's leash and was preparing for what was about to happen. There were only two of them in the car. Good, I thought, maybe I can take them. They got out of the car. My whole body tensed up, and I recognized the two socs that were at the bookstore the other day.

"Hey whadda you know this greaser not only likes to read but he likes to run too." They approached me quickly. Catcher started barking, then the tall soc kicked him with his foot. Catcher made a sound, and the leash fell out of my hand. "Home Catcher, go home," I yelled, but he was just sitting there.

The soc grabbed me by the collar, "so you like to read huh?"

"So I hear," the other one snored. The one that was holding me punched me in the stomach, and I fell. Then he got on his knees next to me and started slugging me in the face. I tried to fight back, but he was stronger. The other soc was standing by my head, making sure that I didn't move.

"Trash like you has no business at the bookstore. Your thing is beer and trash," he spat. It was dark by then, and I could hardly see his face, but I hated him, I hated him more than anything at that moment. I couldn't see straight because of the dark and because he was slugging me in the face including the eyes, but I heard Catcher bark harshly like I never heard him bark before, and the next thing I knew the soc was grabbing his leg –"The bastard bit me," he cursed, and started wiping what I realized was blood on his leg. The other soc ran to him, and I used the moment and got out of his grip and started running. I turned around and saw him having difficulty getting up because his leg was hurt. I grabbed Catcher and ran faster. My face was smarting something awful, and I knew I was going to have a black eye.

When I got home Johnny and Dally were at our place. "What a hell happened?" Soda got up from the couch and rushed to meet me.

"Socs," was all I was able to say, setting Catcher down and taking my jacket off. Soda silently went to the kitchen and got an ice pack and handed it to me.

I sat down next to Soda on the couch, holding an ice pack to my eye.

"How many?" Dally asked, looking away from whatever he was watching on TV and focusing his gaze on me.

"Just two." I replied reluctantly – I was a little embarrassed that I couldn't handle just two guys.

"Do they go to your school?" Soda asked, taking my hand.

"Yep, one of them has a class with me, and the other one I'd seen in the hallways at school," I sighed.

"You show me who they are, and I'll take care of it," Dallas said, crossing his arms and sounding dangerous.

"Catcher bit one of them pretty badly - blood and everything," I smiled proud of Catcher.

"Good boy," Soda patted Catcher on the back. Darry, who stood in the doorway, just shook his head, "You've got to be more careful Ponyboy, where were you?"

"I was at the school yard, I wanted to run a few laps,"

"At this hour? You should know better than that," he shook his head again. I only stared into the distance not saying anything and not meeting his gaze. Johnny, who was sitting on the floor watching TV, got up and sat on the couch next to me, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders – "They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?"

"No, I'm ok, Johnny, I'm just going to have a black eye, guess that'll make me look tuff," I smiled. He smiled back at me, "I bet it will."

The next day I was walking Catcher, and made sure not to get out of our neighborhood not even to the school yard. I didn't want to run into socs again. We were passing by the record store, and I thought I could buy a few records. It felt good to have some money on me. I tied Catcher's leash around the lamp post, "I'll be back soon, buddy be a good boy," I said, and went inside. I got two Elvis records, and paid for them. I was in the store no more than ten minutes, yet when I got out Catcher was gone. His leash was on the ground next to the lamp post. I went mad. I walked around calling Catcher's name and whistling, I asked people if they saw anything. I couldn't believe it, someone kidnapped Catcher.


	4. Chapter 4

I ran all the way home, wiping the tears smudging them all over my face. I walked in and tried to catch my breath.

"What's the matter Pony?" Soda, who was in the kitchen, asked.

"Somebody took Catcher." I was standing in the doorway not entering the room.

"What do you mean took him?" Soda frowned.

"I went into a record store. I was there for less than ten minutes but when I got out Catcher was gone. I tied his leash around the light post so he couldn't get loose. Somebody took him." I said frantically, holding up the leash, all that was left of Catcher. "What am I going to do?" I mumbled, leaning on the wall for support. I was not even trying to wipe the tears anymore, they were just streaming down my face.

Johnny, who was sitting on the floor watching TV, was thoughtful for a moment, "I bet it's that soc that Catcher bit the other day." He sighed, his eyes wide.

"Yeah," Two-bit nodded, getting up from the floor and walking up to me.

I bit my lower lip "But how did he know where I was?"

"Maybe he followed you or something," Two-bit said matter of factly, and Johnny nodded.

"Shit," I swallowed hard, "I don't know where he lives."

"We got to wait till tomorrow. We can follow him after school to his house." Two-bit patted me on the shoulder.

"Tomorrow?" I yelled desperately, "they can kill Catcher by tomorrow."

"Sorry buddy but that's the only thing we can do." Two-bit replied looking away, not meeting my gaze.

"Wait," Soda walked into the room, "Do you know his name?"

"Eric," I replied, plopping tiredly onto the couch.

"And last name?" Soda wiped his hands with a kitchen towel.

"Thompson or some shit like that, why?" I ran my fingers through my hair. Soda was silent for a second then said, "Tall, red hair, mustache?"

"Yeah, that's him," I replied not sure where he was going with this.

"He brought his car to fix at the DX a few times Soda sat down next to me on the couch."

"So?" I sighed through my tears.

"We keep the addresses of all the customers. I can find out where he lives." Soda said enthusiastically grabbing my hand, and squeezing it in his.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go," I yelled jumping up from my seat. My hand still in Soda's dragging him along with me.

"I'll go with you," Dally, who was sitting in Darry's recliner, offered, getting up. "If we are going to bust him at his house we need all of us. Who knows how many of them are there."

"I'll go too," Two-bit offered.

"Me too," Johnny said quietly, looking me right in the eyes.

Darry took the truck so we had to walk, which was annoying, but there was nothing I could about that.

We got to the DX, and Soda looked through the address log and got the soc's address. "Now is the fun part walking in the socs' territory," Two-bit chuckled.

People were giving us dirty looks as we walked on the socs' side of town, but we found Eric's house pretty fast. As we approached the house I heard barking that I would recognize anywhere. My blood froze in my veins, it was Catcher. "What do we do?" I asked frantically looking at Dal.

"We ring the bell, and if they don't open up we got to bust the door" he said walking up the porch. "Ok," I cleared my throat bracing myself.

He rang the bell. We heard footsteps and then the voice, - "who is it?"

"Your worst nightmare," Dally scowled, "open up."

"You fucking grease what a hell are you doing here? Get lost." Dally looked dangerous. "You have something that doesn't belong to you now open up or you will regret it."

"Get lost," he said and he sounded mad, "or I'll call the cops."

"I am petrified," Dally said through clenched teeth, "C'mon Two-bit let's bust the door." Two-bit looked unsure but only for a second, but then looked Dally straight in the eyes and said, "Let's do it." So Dally, Two-bit and Soda ran and applied their force to the door, busting it with a loud noise. The soc went ballistic- "You trash you are going to pay for this."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Dally's voice sounded really harsh and there was so much disdain for the soc in it.

The soc was quite shocked and he looked scared, which was not surprising the way Dally looked and spoke. That would scare anyone. At this moment we heard barking again. "The basement," I yelled and started running towards the basement. The soc must've recovered from his initial shock and tried to block the way to the basement. I pushed him out of the way and started running towards the basement, hearing Johnny's footsteps right behind me.

As I was going to the basement I ran into two more socs, who must've heard the commotion, and were running to see what was going on. I pushed them out of my way, and kept running towards the basement.

As I entered the basement a dreadful scene unfolded in front of my eyes. Catcher was sitting on the floor a rope tied around his neck, and the soc trying to pull the rope strangling him. My instincts kicked in and without hesitation I jumped on the soc. He let go of the rope, and Catcher broke loose. I tried to grab Catcher and run, but the soc grabbed him before me. He was holding him in one hand. At this moment the other socs ran into the basement followed by Two-Bit, Soda and Dally. The soc that was holding Catcher got a blade out of his pocket and held it to Catcher's throat. "You move, I cut his throat," he yelled. My heart sank.

"Ok, ok easy," Dally managed, and I felt grateful that he was holding it together because I sure was not. Dally took out a blade out of his pocket and dropped it on the floor. "Now let go of the dog," he said sternly.

"Or what grease?" The soc spat at him.

"Or you'll regret it," Dally jumped up to him and grabbed his wrist. The soc dropped the blade. Dally punched him in the stomach, and he doubled over in pain. He released his hand that was holding Catcher, and Catcher fell to the floor making a small noise as he reached the floor. The other socs tried to grab him.

"Get the dog, get the dog," Dally yelled. I felt like I was in some sort of haze. I tried to grab Catcher, but I tripped and fell. Thankfully Johnny reached out and grabbed him.

"Get him out of here," Dally yelled, "we'll finish these bastards." I felt bad about not helping Dallas, Soda and Two-bit fight the socs, but my first priority was Catcher, I couldn't let the socs grab him again.

Johnny and me ran outside, and I took Catcher from Johnny. "Thanks man," I wiped the drops of sweat that were forming on my forehead.

"Sure thing," he smiled a little and added, "Thank God we got there in time, who knows what they would've done to him."

"Yeah," I sighed stroking Catcher's hair. I felt him shaking in my arms. "Sorry buddy," I said, "I will never leave you alone again." He looked at me, and there was such an expression in his eyes that you would think he understood everything I just said.

In about ten minutes Two-bit, Soda and Dally exited the house. Dal's lip was bleeding, but he was laughing. "Bastards, they got what they asked for."

"Good luck fixing that door," Two-bit chuckled, wiping the blood from his bleeding hand, and I managed a weak smile. I was still feeling all shook up. We almost lost Catcher. I don't know what I would've done if that happened.

"Thanks guys," I said, my voice quivering, as we were walking back home, "I don't know what I would've done without you."

"Yeah, kid you owe me one," Dally smirked, but not mean, just teasing me.

A few weeks passed by. Things seemed to be going ok. I kept going to work while telling Darry and Soda I was going to track practice. On Friday I ran into coach in the hallway at school. "Curtis," he called. I walked up to him, "hi coach."

"Don't 'hi' me, why haven't you been to practice?"

"I'm sorry coach, but I quit." He looked baffled.

"You are one of my best runners…"

"Sorry," I said again and kept walking not looking back at him.

I went to work after school, and got home around 6:30. Darry and Soda were already home. "Hi," I greeted taking off my shoes at the door.

"Hi," Darry replied, "how was track practice?"

"Oh, it was great."

"Really?" he asked, and there was something weird in his voice.

"Yep," I nodded and added "what's for dinner? I'm hungry."

Darry gave me a long look, then said, "I just got a call from your coach asking me if everything was ok at home because you haven't been showing up at track practice." I froze, I didn't expect this turn of events.

"Do you know how that makes me feel?" Darry crumpled the newspaper he was reading and threw it in the garbage. "They think I'm doing something to you so you don't go to track." He continued. I was just standing there silent.

"And another thing," Darry went into the kitchen and brought the bag of dog food that I was buying for Catcher. "I found this in your room. Where did you get the money to buy it? And don't give me shit about how your classmate's dog just died."

"What are you doing snooping around in my room?" I snapped, finally walking into the room.

"What are you doing hiding stuff in your room? Now tell me this instance where have you been going all this time?"

"I got a job ok?" I didn't even try to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

He was taken aback, "You what? Doing what?" In all the graveness of the situation there was something comical in the way that Darry was so helpless at the moment. "Male prostitute," I replied sarcasm in my voice. Soda, who was sitting on the couch observing the whole thing, snorted. Darry was not amused. He looked like a bull that's seen red.

"I work at the bookstore by the school," I said before Darry had a chance to say anything.

"Now call them and tell them you are quitting." He pointed a finger at me.

"I sure as hell won't. I'm not quitting." I raised my voice.

"You are quitting. You need track, you can get a scholarship to go to college." He walked up closer to me and was staring me right in the eyes.

"I'll get the scholarship for my grades I don't' need track. I'm not quitting the job, and there is nothing you can do about that." I yelled.

"You are grounded, go to your room," his voice bellowed.

"Gladly," I replied walking into the hallway, grabbing Catcher on the way then going into my room slamming the door.

"So buddy we are in the dog house today," I said to Catcher once in my room. He looked at me and wiggled his tail. I made up my mind and there was no way Darry would make me quit the job.

Next morning I was dreading getting out of my room facing Darry. I decided not to have breakfast. That way I could avoid him. It was Saturday so I didn't have to go to school, so I just stayed in my room. In about half an hour there was a knock on the door. "Pony," it was Darry's voice, "are you ok, can I come in?"

"Sure," I said reluctantly, getting up from my bed and sitting down at my desk so he can't scold me for staying in bed so late. To my surprise he was carrying a plate f eggs and some bacon. "Your breakfast," he said awkwardly. I took the plate form him, and put it on my desk.

"Listen," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry I snapped at you yesterday. I guess I told you to be responsible for Catcher and you've done that. I just hate to see you quit track. You love it, and you can get a scholarship to put you through college. You know we can't afford it any other way."

"I do love track, but I love Catcher more. I can get the scholarship for my grades." I was quite surprised that he actually understood and was apologizing so I tried not to sound angry even though I was.

"Ok you don't have to quit the job as long as your grades don't suffer," he said sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"They won't," I hurried to assure him.

"And you better get that scholarship."

"I will," I interrupted him.

"Ok I've said may piece." With that he left the room.

I poked at the eggs with my fork. Catcher ran up to me wiggling his tail. I gave him a piece of crispy bacon, which he finished in a matter of seconds. "We are going to be alright," I smiled at him, and I could've sworn that he smiled back at me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, it means a lot. Hope you enjoy this chapter:)**

The rest of the Winter passed by. I worked at the bookstore, and kept my grades up so Darry would lay off. Even though I quit track I went running at the school yard at least once a week. I never took Catcher with me again though, but I didn't run into socs again. So it was Spring, and the weather was nice. I've been kind of waiting for Spring I was tired of the harsh weather of the Winter.

Catcher grew bigger and was not such a puppy anymore. His torso got bigger and his legs got longer. He was also stronger. I never left him alone anywhere since the last incident with socs.

It was the first day of Spring Break, and I was planning to sleep in. Both Darry and Soda had to work. And I was looking forward to curling up in bed with a book and a cup of coffee and then later on Johnny would come over and we'd go for a walk, maybe play ball at the lot and look at the stars.

I was awaken by a strange sound, which I couldn't place what it was. It was coming from the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes and looked a t the clock. It was quarter to ten. Who was making the noise Darry and Soda were gone. Sleepily I walked into the kitchen and froze. Catcher was the one making the noise. He was throwing up. He was barking and coughing and looked miserable.

I grabbed a bowl and filled it with water. I brought it up to Catcher. "Drink buddy," I said soothingly, "you'll feel better." He looked at me and attempted to drink, but started coughing violently and kept throwing up. I put my hand on his back, and I didn't need a thermometer to tell me that he was running a fever. What a hell was wrong, I thought, what a hell am I supposed to do? I started to feel panic. Catcher finally stopped throwing up and was looking at me with his big black eyes hope in his eyes. He was expecting me to help him. He was looking at me the way he did when I found him in the snow freezing to death. I patted him on the back, and he started drinking. I plopped on the kitchen chair and was looking at him. He finished drinking and jumped on my lap. He pressed his head against my cheek and then licked my nose. Then he was just sitting on my lap whining a little.

It was time to take him for a walk so I put the leash on him, and we went outside. It was pretty warm and nice out, and I was hoping it would make Catcher feel better. But it didn't. Usually when I walked him he was really happy, running ahead of me, sniffing everything, running after birds and squirrels wiggling his tail happily. Today he was just trudging after me not paying any attention to birds or squirrels.

When we got home he went into the corner of the room, and lied down on his stomach resting his head on his paws. I put a bowl of food in front of him, but he didn't seem interested, then finally ate a little. It was a mistake feeding him, which I realized half an hour later when he threw up again. Then he started coughing up blood, and I knew he needed to see a vet. For once I would be able to pay for it.

I grabbed the phone book, frantically looking for a vet office in our area. I flipped through the pages hurriedly and realized the closest vet office was in the middle class neighborhood. I sighed - I had hoped to find one in our neighborhood but no such luck. I dialed the number – "hello, Patty speaking," the woman on the other end of the line spoke.

"Hi, I need to make an appointment, my dog is sick." I tightened my grip on the receiver as if this was my last help line.

"Have you been here before?"

"No." I replied pacing the room the receiver in my hand.

"Ok, the next available appointment is March 17th"

My heart sank, "Excuse me, but he needs to see someone right away, he is really sick."

"Sorry, but we are all booked up. This is the only appointment we have available, will you be making the appointment?"

"No thank you." I put the receiver down frustrated. I found another office in the phone book and dialed the number. The same story - no appointment for today. I ended up calling six more offices and got the same answer. I was really panicking because Catcher clearly needed to see the vet right away. I dialed another number - the same story no appointment, but the woman on the phone said "if this is an emergency I can give you a number for an emergency vet clinic. You don't need to make an appointment, you just walk in and they'll see your dog right away."

"Oh thank you, that would be great." I wiped off drops of sweat that were running down my forehead. She gave me the address and the phone number. It was on the soc part of town.

Then I called Soda. "Hey Pony is everything alright?" Soda sounded concerned.

"No," I swallowed hard.

"What's wrong?"

"Catcher is sick," I muttered stumbling over my words, "He's coughing up blood and he's running a fever. Can you give me a ride to the vet? It's all the way on the West side." There was silence on the other end, then Soda cleared his throat and cursed, "Shit, it's all my fault," he said bitterly.

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused, leaning deeper into my seat.

"I fed him chicken leftovers yesterday it must've gone bad, but I fed it to him anyway."

"What did you do that for?" I said frustrated, trying not to yell, "You should've known better."

"I'm really sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. And right now I can't give you a ride either. I'm n the middle of fixing a car, and the boss is watching me like a hawk. Sorry Pony you are going to have to walk. Is Catcher able to walk at least?"

"Don't know, he looks kind of weak." I leaned against the wall because I myself was feeling kind of weak at this point.

"Sorry," Soda said again and then whispered, "I gotta go." I hung up the phone feeling even more frustrated if that was even possible, how could Soda be so careless?

I put the leash on Catcher, and I felt him shaking in my arms. I tried to find something decent to wear, knowing that I was going to the West side. I settled for a clean black t-shirt, a jean jacket and jeans. Still looked like a greaser, I thought, but I didn't have any other clothes.

We started walking, and Catcher was just trudging behind me. I realized he was feeling really weak and it was difficult for him to walk. I picked him up and carried him the rest of the way.

Finally we were there. I took a deep breath as I walked in. It looked very fancy inside. The walls were painted faded peach color, and the waiting area was really big and bright. The seats were cushioned with leather, and there were paintings of animals on the walls. They weren't photographs, but actual oil paintings. There was a pantry in the corner of the room with coffee and tea and fresh bagels. I felt like a fish out of water. This animal clinic was better than the hospital for humans on our side of town.

There were people with all kinds of animals there - dogs, cats, lizards. One guy had a guinea pig and one woman had a hedgehog. Some dogs had their legs or paws bandaged and one cat had a brace around his neck.

Catcher looked scared. He leaned into my chest and was shaking even more than before. I walked up to the front desk while stroking Catcher's hair. There was a long waiting list, and I signed my name. Then I went to the receptionist to check in. She gave me a dirty look. "How will you be paying?" she asked reluctantly as if she thought I wouldn't be able to pay.

"Cash," I replied simply, taking my billfold out.

"That would be $250." I frowned, I expected it to be expensive but not _this_ expensive.

"Are you going to pay?" She brought me out of my daze. Good thing I brought enough money, I thought. I counted $250 cash - that was four weeks' worth of work. Good thing I haven't spent it on anything else. She watched me count the cash in $20 and $10 bills, and she looked disgusted. I don't know what she was thinking. Maybe she was thinking I robbed somebody or sold a stolen car or something like that. She recounted the cash once I gave it to her, making sure it really was $250, and then gave me a receipt without saying another word.

Then I walked into the waiting area and took a seat. I realized I hadn't had anything to eat today besides a small toast in the morning. I was hungry, and looking at the waiting list we were going to be there for a while. Maybe I should take a bagel from the pantry, I thought, but decided against it. Poor Catcher, I thought, he must be hungry too. He threw up everything he ate.

Catcher looked really scared. He had never seen so many people and other animals at once. He was looking around and growling slightly.

We were sitting in the waiting room for four hours. Finally my name was called. I started getting up from the seat when Catcher leaped down on the floor, and started running towards the door. I ran after him, all the while the vet assistant, who had called my name, watching what was going on. Finally when Catcher had reached the door and was about to run out some elderly lady grabbed his leash and I ran up to her. "Thank you ma'am," I managed, grabbing the leash. "Let's go Catcher," I pulled the string on the leash, but he tried to pull away.

Then I grabbed him, while the vet assistant looked annoyed. "Sorry 'bout that," I managed, walking up to her. She rolled her eyes – "follow me." We walked into the exam room. "I'll take it from here," the vet assistant said, stretching her arms to take Catcher from me. He leaned into my chest and started barking. "Easy Catcher, it's ok buddy, they won't hurt you." The vet assistant looked like she had enough of this, and grabbed Catcher out of my arms roughly, and I thought she didn't appear as someone who genuinely cared about animals. It looked like this was just a job for her, just a paycheck.

She placed Catcher on the exam table and was holding his back. The doctor walked into the room. "So what seems to be the problem?" She asked all business like.

"He's been throwing up, coughing up blood. He ate something that wasn't fresh." I said, glancing at Catcher, my voice quivering slightly. The doc fixed the glasses on her nose – "Why did you feed him something that wasn't fresh?" I looked down not knowing what to say. "It was an accident," I finally managed. She just gave me a long look and didn't say anything else.

She took Catcher's temperature, and as expected he was running a fever. "We are going to have to take blood," the doc said, walking up to the cupboard and taking out a syringe, while Catcher barked as if he understood something bad was about to happen. I felt so helpless and useless, "ok," I just nodded, leaning on the wall, because I wasn't feeling so well all of the sudden. I thought the assistant was hurting Catcher the way she was pressing on his back. The doc took out the needle and approached Catcher. He started barking and pulling away. The doc grabbed his paw, and he squealed, shook off the doc's hand and jumped from the exam table on to the floor and started running. I grabbed him. The assistant tried to take him, but I had enough of her.

"Maybe _I_ should hold him," I suggested firmly, walking up to the exam table, "he'll be more trusting that way." The assistant was about to protest, but the doc nodded, "ok let's try that, step next to me please." I was still holding Catcher, and I could hear his heart pounding in his chest. I gently put him on the exam table and stroke his hair – "it's ok buddy, it's for your own good," I said in a soothing voice. He made a small noise and stretched out on the exam table and closed his eyes. The doc took his paw and inserted the needle. He barked right away, but I was still holding him so he couldn't run off. "That's it, good boy," the doc said, and for the first time she smiled sympathetically and not like she was judging me for giving Catcher bad food.

Then she turned Catcher onto his back and started pressing on his stomach with her hands. He squealed and jumped onto his feet and bit her hand. She withdrew her hand right away. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," I about yelled, feeling my face turn red. To my surprise she smiled, "it's quite alright. I'm used to this kind of treatment. It appears his stomach is hurting. I'm going to prescribe an antibiotic," she said, opening one of the drawers and taking out a bottle with pills, "you have to give it to him three times a day for a week. The infection should clear up in that amount of time. He should stop throwing up in about three days. If in a week he is not better come back and see me. Also make sure he drinks lots of water otherwise he'll be dehydrated. He won't be able to eat for a few days because he won't be able to hold it but when he starts eating give the antibiotic right after the meal." I nodded in agreement and took the pills. "Thank you doctor," I said sighing and grabbing Catcher's leash, then leaving the room.

When we got home Catcher looked exhausted. "It's been a long day huh buddy," I petted him on the head. He made a small noise then went to his dog bed that I bought for him at the pet store, and stretched out and fell asleep. I was apprehensive because I had to give him the pills. How will he take them, I bet they taste nasty.

He woke up in about half an hour and, I took the pill and tried giving it to him as if I was giving him a treat, bringing it to his mouth. He clenched his teeth and turned away. "Please Catcher don't be stubborn take the pill." I pleaded. He was still looking away. Then I remembered how my mom used to give me pills when I was little. She used to break the pill into small pieces and mix it with water and give it to me in a spoon. I decided to do the same for Catcher. I broke the pill into many little pieces and put them on the spoon and added water. "Here Catcher, you have to take this," I walked up to him, and to my surprise he opened his mouth eagerly, and took the contents of the spoon. He swallowed it and went back to his bed. So that wasn't so bad I thought, going into the kitchen and rinsing the spoon.

When I got back to the room Catcher stretched out in his bed and rested his head on his paws. He looked miserable. I felt as miserable as he looked, as if it was me who had food poisoning and had to take the pills. I filled his bowl with water remembering the doc said he should drink plenty of fluids. He started drinking, but then started coughing violently and threw up yet again. After he was done he looked like all the energy and strength were knocked out of him, and he collapsed onto my bed. I sat down at my desk trying to read a book, but I wasn't able to focus on what I was reading. I kept glancing at Catcher, trying to think of something I could do to make him feel better. I hated feeling so helpless.

In a few hours Soda got home. "How is Catcher?" he yelled from the doorway, before even taking his jacket and shoes off, a guilty look on his face.

"Not so good," I replied honesty, walking into the living room, "threw up again and is sleeping now." Soda looked down. "I'm really sorry man," he said barely audibly, "I don't know what I was thinking."

"'s alright," I sighed, "just be careful next time."

"What did the vet say?" Soda asked next.

"Gave antibiotics to take for a week. Said he'll be fine then. I sure hope she is right," I sighed again.

"Did you try giving it to him?" Soda finally took his jacket off.

"I did, he took it fine but threw up 15 minutes after. I' m going to give it to him again when he wakes up." I said concern in my voice. I was not looking forward to giving him the pill again. Soda nodded, "I'm sorry," he said again.

Soon Darry walked in, and looking at our gloomy faces he frowned. "Where's the funeral?" he chuckled.

"Don't say that," Soda hushed him, "Catcher is sick." Darry frowned again, "What happened?" Soda looked down and proceeded to tell Darry how he fed Catcher food that went bad, and how Catcher was sick now. I didn't wait to hear him finish, instead I went back to my room to check up on Catcher.

He was awake when I walked in. He lifted his head up to look at me, but then dropped it back down in exhaustion. I filled a bowl with water and prompted him to drink. He jumped off the bed and slowly and clumsily walked up to the bowl and started drinking. I decided not to feed him for a while I figured he would just throw it up again. I gave him the pill and he took it, but surely 15 minutes later he threw up.

The next three days were hell. I took off work to stay with Catcher. He didn't eat anything, he was exhausted and just stayed in his bed the whole day. Every time I gave him the pill he threw up. Finally I realized it was the pills that made him throw up. Maybe he was allergic or something. I decided to give the vet a call. I needed to speak to her anyway to find out the results of the blood tests.

It was impossible to get through to her. Every time I called she was with a patient or busy. Finally the receptionist got fed up with me calling every fifteen minutes, and told me to leave my number and the doc will call me back. I had no choice but to agree though I had a feeling this soc doctor was not going to call me back. "This is urgent, I need to speak with her _today_ ," I made sure to tell the receptionist.

"She'll call you back," was all the receptionist said, and I could almost picture her rolling her eyes.

I stayed in my room next to Catcher for the rest of the day, giving him plenty to drink and hoping to God that the doc would call. This was my Spring break, and it was not going the way I intended. Later on Johnny came over. He stayed in my room with me petting Catcher, and saying that everything would be alright. He left around eight and still no phone call from the vet. I was mentally cursing both the receptionist and the vet. Nasty socs, I thought, they didn't care if Catcher died, they wouldn't give a damn about that.

Finally at around 8:30 the phone rang. I jumped up form my seat and ran to grab it. "Hello," I almost yelled into the receiver, desperately hoping it was the vet.

"Hello this is doctor Richards, I need to speak with Ponyboy Curtis."

"This is Ponyboy," I replied and then forced myself to say, "thank you for calling me back doctor."

"You are welcome," she replied. "What is going on? The receptionist told me you were quite upset when you called."

"I think Catcher is allergic to the medication you prescribed. Every time he takes it he throws up."

"That's quite possible," she replied. "Anyway we have his blood test results. He definitely has an infection. I'll give him a different antibiotic you can pick it up tomorrow."

"Thank you doctor."

"You are welcome, hope he gets better soon."

The next day I went to the vet to get the pills. I asked Johnny to stay with Catcher since both Darry and Soda were working, and I didn't want to leave Catcher alone.

When I got back I found them in the living room on the couch. Johnny was watching TV, while Catcher was leaning against his leg sleeping. "How is he?" I asked walking up to pet the dog.

"He's been alright- didn't throw up, but didn't eat either."

"Alright," I nodded. I went into the kitchen and prepared the pill mixture again. I gave it to Catcher and he took it no problem. I was waiting anxiously to see if the pill would make him throw up, but after half an hour he still didn't throw up, and I felt relieved.

The next day I was in my room, watching Catcher when Darry walked in. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands. "I thought you said you paid the vet at the clinic," he said.

"I did," I replied looking up at him.

"Then what is this?" he held up the sheet of paper.

"What is it?"

"A bill from the vet for 60 bucks"

"Let me see," I said confused, taking the paper from him. The description said "phone call to patient."

"She called me yesterday, it's for that phone call," I said reluctantly. "She was on the phone with me for barely 5 minutes and she's charging 60 bucks for that. No wonder socs are so rich," I frowned. Darry sighed, "don't worry about it, I'll pay it," he offered.

"Thanks," I muttered, looking down.

For the next two days Catcher still didn't eat but I gave him the pill 3 times a day just as the doc said, and he didn't throw up. On the 3rd day I fed him a little. He ate and didn't throw up. From that day on he started feeling better, and by the end of the following week he was back to normal. I was beyond happy, and Soda was relieved - he couldn't forgive himself for giving Catcher the food that wasn't fresh. So my Spring break didn't go the way I planned, but Catcher was alright and that was all I could ask for.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright here is another chappie about Pony's favorite dog. Please enjoy and let me know what you think:) Thank you everyone who reviewed or favorited - it means a lot.**

It was a bright sunny Sunday in May and we were going to a baseball game. Steve and Soda seemed especially pumped about it. I liked it alright, though I wasn't crazy about it. The game was at 4:00, and at around 3:00 Johnny, Dallas and Two-Bit got to our place. "I'm going to take Catcher," I started putting the leash on him, "I don't want to leave him alone for that long." Catcher started wiggling his tail.

We arrived on time and took our seats. The seats were ok, not the first row or anything, but not all the way to the back. We settled down, when Two-bit stretched in his seat, "I'm hungry man," he said getting up, "I'm going to the concession stand to get some food, you guys want anything?" We all told him to get us hot dogs, then I realized something. "Catcher needs to do his business, I don't' want him peeing right here next to the seats." I said.

"I'll take him," Two-bit offered stretching his arm to get the leash. "Alright, thanks man," I gave the leash to him.

The game started exactly at 4:00, but Two-bit still wasn't back.

"Where the hell is Two-bit? I'm hungry," Steve complained.

"There must be a line or something," I shrugged.

"Let's just enjoy the game," Soda offered. We all nodded, and I tried to focus on the game.

About half an hour passed, and Two-bit still wasn't back. "Something is wrong," I said, concern in my voice, "maybe he got into it with socs. I'm going to the concession stand to check."

"I'll go with you," Soda offered. We got up from our seats and were about to start walking when we saw Two-bit walking in our direction. Catcher wasn't with him.

He approached us, and I had a bad feeling "are you ok? Where is Catcher?" I asked walking up closer to him. He looked down ashamed, "I lost him," he muttered under his breath.

"What do you mean _lost_ him?" I yelled, and the people in the row in front turned around and told me to shut up, but I didn't care, "what do you mean you lost him?" I yelled again.

"I was chatting with this chick, who was in line, and then we went over to the bench to chat and exchange phone numbers and I… ,"he swallowed hard and hung his head, "I totally forgot about Catcher, when I remembered and went back to the place where I left him he was gone. I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot, if you feel like hitting me you can."

"What a fuck is wrong with you?" Soda cursed, and Soda rarely used that kind of language so that shows how upset he was. Two-bit hung his head even lower and said nothing. My adrenaline kicked in, and I really did feel like hitting him. I was about to when Soda looked at me and shook his head "No" letting me know that hitting Two-bit wasn't a good idea.

Darry got up from his seat, "alright don't panic," he said. "Catcher has a dog tag with our name and address so if someone finds him they'll return him to us, but we should try looking for him first. Pony and Johnny you go to the concession stand. Soda you check the right wing of the sitting area, and I'll check the left one. Dally you check the middle and you Steve, you check in the waiting area. Let's go."

"What about me?" Two-bit mumbled. There was silence then Darry cleared his throat and said, "You just stay here." Two-bit looked devastated.

"Moron," Steve punched him in the shoulder "now instead of watching the game I got to run around like a chicken without a head." Two-bit plopped into the seat and covered his eyes with his hands.

"We'll meet back here in an hour," Darry instructed walking toward the front, and we all nodded.

Johnny and me went to the concession stand. There was a line, and we started asking people if they'd seen Catcher, but nobody seemed to have seen him. We walked around the concession stand and checked the nearby area where the benches were, where Two-bit was chatting with the girl. But Catcher was nowhere close.

I was devastated. I sat down on the bench and hung my head. Johnny sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I've got an idea," he said. I looked up at him like it was my last hope and looked at him expectantly, "let's go to the lost and found, maybe they can make an announcement that the dog was lost and to return it to owners. So whoever finds Catcher will bring him to the lost and found." That seemed like a really good idea to me. "Let's go," I got up to my feet.

"Don't give up Pony," Johnny patted me on the shoulder, "he'll turn up I have a feeling." I was thankful that Johnny was with me. I don't know what I would've done if I was all alone.

"Where the hell is lost and found?" I furrowed my eyebrows and sighed.

"I've seen a poster with the map and directions, It's that way," Johnny pointed his finger. We walked up to the poster and saw that lost and found was all the way on the other side of the field, but we were determined to get there.

I was trying to hurry even though I didn't know why so when we got there we were out of breath. We were met by a guy wearing jeans and a t-shirt that said 'staff'. "Hello," he said, "what did you two lose? Or are you here to report something that you found?"

"No sir," Johnny started, and I continued, "you see we lost a dog," I paused, and he frowned, "we thought maybe you can make an announcement on the radio that the dog has been lost and so whoever finds him will bring him to the lost and found."

"How'd you manage to lose him?" The guy asked curiously. I wasn't in the mood for chatting and wished he'd make the announcement already. "Our friend was supposed to watch him but he didn't," was all I said and then added, "Can you make an announcement … please."

"Alright no problem."

"Tell them to bring him here to the lost and found."

The guy made the announcement, and there was nothing else for us to do but wait. I was so antsy I couldn't sit still. I thought that maybe we should look somewhere else, but we had to stay here in case someone turned Catcher in. An hour passed, we were supposed to meet Darry, but we knew that he heard the announcement and knows that we are here. Maybe Darry or one of the guys found Catcher I tried to think positively, but somehow I had a feeling that they did not find him.

The staff guy, whose name was Chris, offered us drinks, and we kept waiting. Soon enough I saw Darry approaching and after him the rest of the guys showed up. I looked to see if one of them was walking Catcher but no such luck. I got up and started walking. "Where are you going?" Darry grabbed my hand.

"You stay here," I removed my hand out of his grip, "I'm going to check the sitting area."

"Ponyboy," Darry frowned, "we just checked he isn't there."

"I'm going to check again, you stay here." I yelled, and with that I left.

I was running through the entire sitting area both the right wing and left wing, calling Catcher's name and looking around. Catcher wasn't there. I was bewildered. By the time I got back to the lost and found it was dark. "Thank you for everything," Darry shook Chris' hand, "we are going to go now."

"I ain't going," I said through clenched teeth, taking a seat.

"Don't be ridiculous Ponyboy," Darry said in his warning voice.

"I'm not going until I find Catcher." I was almost crying.

"C'mon Pony we need to go," Soda prompted softly.

"Fine," I paused and started to get up. My gaze fell on Two-bit, and he looked away.

When we got home I went straight to my room skipping dinner. I heard the guys talking, and Steve still complaining that he didn't get to see the game. It was time to go to bed. I haven't gotten a wink of sleep that night. I kept thinking where else I can look for Catcher. In the morning I felt awful- I had a headache and my body was sore. I washed up and walked into the living room.

"Your breakfast 's on the table," Darry said carefully, looking up at me, knowing that I was upset.

"Not hungry," I replied plopping onto the couch.

"Pony you got to eat something."

At this moment there door bell rang. "Who could it be, I thought. Everybody in this neighborhood knew not to ring the bell. If it was one of the guys or Tim they'd just walk right in. My heart jumped what if it was someone bringing Catcher. I jumped to open the door.

At the door was a girl who looked 13 or 14. She was holding Catcher. "I believe he's yours," she smiled, "found him wandering the streets this morning." I found it difficult to speak, "He was probably trying to find his way home," I smiled ear to ear. I almost forgot to thank her, but got a hold of myself. "Thank you very much," I finally managed, "you don't know what it means."

"Good thing he has a tag with your address," she smiled again, and I nodded.

"Would you like to come in have something to drink?" I offered. She shook her head, "no thank you." with that she left.

I lifted Catcher up and stroke his hair, "good boy," I said, he licked my hand, and I chuckled. Darry walked into the room. "This dog is going to get me gray haired, there is always something going on with him," Darry said, but I knew he wasn't really mad.

"You would look good with gray hair," I chuckled.

"Don't get mouthy now," he warned, but grinned at the same time.

"Ok let's go Catcher," I set him on the floor. "Let's go boy I'll give you some food. I bet you are hungry." With that I took him to my room.

In a few hours there was a knock on the door. "Darry?" I lifted my head from the book I was reading, making sure to bookmark the page I was on.

"No, it's me," it was Two-bit's voice.

"Come in," I said reluctantly. He walked in and sat down on the edge of my bed. He looked guilty and ashamed all at once. "Listen Pony I'm really sorry" he mumbled not looking me in the eyes.

"I know," I said quietly biting my lower lip. I was still mad at him, but not as much as before now that I had Catcher back.

"I don't want you to think that you can't trust me," he ran his fingers through his hair. I nodded. "Is it going to work out with the girl at least?" I chuckled. He frowned, "I haven't called her," his voice quivered slightly. I nodded again. He got up and there was an awkward silence and then he left the room. I went back to reading, and Catcher sprawled by my feet on the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

**An extremely short chapter. Just something I thought of today. I thought I'd make this chapter lighter and give a little break from the heavy stuff of Catcher being lost or kidnapped. The next chapter will be longer. Thanks for reading everyone**.

It was now Summer, which meant no school, and I was pretty happy about that. For once Darry didn't have to work and took us to the beach. Soda was walking Catcher. Catcher was running ahead looking at everything.

When we got there Darry started setting up the beach chairs, but Soda kicked his flip flops off and let Catcher run free. Catcher ran to the water and stopped on the sand. Soda caught up with him, and they started running along the shore. Soda was laughing. Then he did a cartwheel and then another one. Then he stood up, Catcher running up to him. I couldn't help it, but smile at them. I looked over at Darry and he was looking at them too, an amused expression on his face.

Then Soda did another cartwheel and then a somersault then got back to his feet laughing. He took a treat out of his pocket and stretched his arm up. Catcher jumped up trying to get the treat, and Soda gave it to him.

Then Soda collapsed onto the ground. "Roll over" he yelled at Catcher. Catcher rolled over in the sand. Then Catcher got up and after him Soda. "Give me five," Soda stretched his hands out, and Catcher stood up on his rear legs and reached out with his paws to Soda's hands. "Good boy," Soda laughed giving him another treat.

We went into the water, and Catcher was swimming. We kept throwing a small ball at him, and he caught it every single time truly living out to his name.

Then we went to the concession stand and got ice cream cones. We were walking along the shore, our feet in the water, talking. Catcher was running along with us, wiggling his tail. After we were done with the ice cream we started playing freezby with Catcher.

I stopped for a moment and looked around, taking in the moment. The river was so beautiful, the sunrays making it shine with gold. Things were going alright. In fact they were going pretty well. Darry and I seemed to get along better. I had Soda and Johnny and I had Catcher. In that moment I was truly happy, and I was really hoping that it would last.


	8. Chapter 8

**:)Ok, here is the next chappie :), thanks veryone for reading, reviewing and favoriting/following. It really means a lot. In my mind Catcher is a Scottish Terrier or a Poodle, what breed do you think of as you read?**

Summer passed by too soon as always. It was a new school year, and I wasn't exactly thrilled about it, though I liked school ok. I got my schedule and went to my classes. The classes were mostly full of socs and some middle class kids. I was bummed about it. I wished some of my buddies had classes with me. Yeah right - Two-bit in advanced physics. I chuckled at the thought.

I was sitting all alone at the back of the room when Shawn Harris walked in. Shawn lived in the house next to ours, and we were on good terms even thought we weren't buddy-buddy. He was a year older than me. I was glad to see another greaser. I smiled and waved him over. He sat down next to me and opened a bag of chips, "you want some?"

"Sure," I took a few.

A week had passed, and I started to get used to my new classes. I had two other classes with Shawn - American history and math. We started to get closer, and I found him a pretty tuff guy. We even got our lockers next to each other. I still went to lunch with Johnny and Two-bit though. I didn't want them to think that I replaced them with Shawn.

On Friday I was putting my books into my locker when Shawn walked by to do the same.

"Hey, I need to talk to you," he said casually, and I closed my locker.

"Yeah, what's up?" I looked up at him.

"Not here," He almost whispered and looked around suspiciously. I frowned, "what's the matter?"

"Let's go outside," he replied. He led me outside and around the corner to a secluded area where there was no one around. He leaned against a lamp post and lit up and offered me a cigarette. I took it and lit up as well.

"I'm going to let you on a secret," he reached into his backpack and produced a plastic bag with white powder in it. I felt as if someone just punched me in the gut.

"What a hell, man?" I flinched a little, "I prefer cigarettes man." He nodded "I'm not asking you to use," he almost whispered.

"What are you saying?" I almost yelled, swallowing hard. I was starting to get an idea.

"Don't yell," he hushed me, "I'm saying you can make a lot of money. This would sure make five times more than what you are making at that lousy bookstore." He grounded his cigarette, and looked directly at me "I think you are a pretty tuff guy and you are loyal. You'll be great at pushing. We need you. You are on good terms with Shepard's gang, you can push it to them…" He was speaking in such a manner as if this was already a done deal, and there was no way for me to say no.

"You can thank me later," he smiled widely, putting the plastic bag back into his backpack. I was stunned and didn't know what to say. "Listen man," I finally managed the cigarette burning my finger. I paused "I ain't into stuff like this. I guess I'm a pussy compared to your, but I can't. If I get caught they won't let me stay with my brothers no more, they'll ship me to a boys' home." I didn't tell him that I felt it was wrong since he obviously didn't think so. He looked mad. He thought he was doing me a favor letting me in on a secret and giving me the opportunity to make money and how dare I refuse.

"You _are_ a pussy, you really are," he said through clenched teeth. "You tell anybody and I cut your throat." He sounded the opposite of what he sounded a minute ago. He sounded friendly then, and he sounded like an enemy now.

"Don't worry I ain't gonna tell anybody," I ran my fingers through my hair. I was getting aggravated, who does he think he is? He grounded his cigarette slowly and methodically, then spat on the ground, turned around and walked away. I wondered if he was going to talk to me ever again or have I just made an enemy. Either way there was no way I was going to sell drugs even if that meant losing a buddy.

Later that night I was walking Catcher, and when I was walking back I saw Shawn on his front porch smoking a cigarette. I nodded at him, and thought he'd at least say hi, but he gave me such an evil stare that I felt shivers down my spine. His gaze then fell on Catcher, and he was staring at him for a long while. I looked down and went back to the house, Catcher running ahead of me.

At school Shawn stopped talking to me, and every time I looked at him, he glared at me. I wasn't too upset that Shawn and me weren't going to be friends anymore, but I did feel a little bad - it was bad enough that we were enemies with socs, but now I was starting to make enemies with other greasers and that didn't sit well with me. Little did I know that wasn't the end of it.

On Monday I was home getting ready to go to work when the phone rang. I picked it up.

"Hello, may I speak with Darryl Curtis?" A woman's voice said.

"He isn't home, would you like to leave a message for him?"

"This is Mrs. Walker from social services, who am I speaking to?" So it was our social worker.

"Hi, Mrs. Walker, this is Ponyboy." My hand with the receiver started to shake a little. Social workers made me nervous. I tried to steady my hand and was listening intently.

"Hi Ponyboy, we would like to visit your house this Wednesday, can you make sure you and your brothers are home?" I wondered what that was about. Social services were supposed to visit us once a month, and it wasn't time for their visit yet.

"Is something wrong?" I managed feeling my heart beat faster.

"We'll explain everything on Wednesday, just make sure you are home around four in the afternoon."

"Sure," I managed to say, and hung up the phone not waiting for her to say bye. After I hung up I needed a moment to calm my nerves. I plopped on the couch and lit up a cigarette. My hands were still shaking.

When Darry and Soda got home, I told them about the phone call.

"What have you done Pony? Fess up," Darry looked tiredly at me.

"I haven't done anything, I swear. I have no idea what this is about."

"You then," he looked at Soda, but Soda only shrugged.

All three of us took off work on Wednesday and we were waiting apprehensively. We were wearing nice clothes, and the house had been cleaned spotless by me and Soda. I felt so belittled. We had to dress up and clean up for these people. We had to follow their stupid rules and our lives were in their hands.

At 4:00 sharp the door bell rang. Darry opened the door, and two people walked in – our regular social worker Mrs. Walker and a tall guy that I was seeing for the first time in my life. Mrs. Walker was wearing a beige business suit, her hair was done in complicated curls and her makeup done - I could tell she spent a lot of time making sure that she looked good. "This is Mr. Adams," she pointed at the man. "He will assist me with today's visit." Mr. Adams was also wearing a business suit. It was brown, but there was a stain right above the pocket. I guess he wasn't so neat. Darry stretched his hand out for Mr. Adams to shake, but Mr. Adams ignored it. Darry frowned, but didn't say anything.

Catcher was not used to seeing strangers around the house. He only knew the gang so he ran upfront and started barking at the social workers.

"Oh please Mrs. Walker, don't mind him," I said picking Catcher up, "he is just not used to seeing new people around. He doesn't bite."

"Please take a seat," Darry led them into the living room, "would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you," they went into the room and sat down on the couch. I was still holding Catcher. Mrs. Walker cleared her throat. "Actually the dog is what we'd like to talk to you about."

"The dog?" I said baffled, I was caught off guard.

"We have received a complaint from your neighbor saying that the dog is barking disturbing the peace and that the dog went to their yard more than once, and damaged the flowers, and more importantly bit your neighbor Shawn Harris severely, so that he had to go to the doctor." My jaw dropped at these accusations, I immediately remembered Shawn staring at Catcher when I was walking him. So that was his little plan of getting back at me for refusing to push the drugs.

"It's a lie," I said firmly, pulling up a chair and sitting down, "the dog has never been to the neighbor's yard, and definitely never bit him or anyone else."

"Mr. Harris has medical bills to prove that he had to go to the doctor after the dog bit him, and I saw myself a minute ago that the dog is not very friendly." Mrs. Walker pursed her lips.

"This is ridiculous," I pouted, and Darry sighed – "Pony are you sure he never went to Harris' yard?" Soda looked at me wide-eyed.

"Of course I'm sure." I said frustrated.

Mr. Adams looked me in the eyes and said, "I think giving your situation living without adult supervision it is best for you not to have a dog."

"This is ridiculous," I said again, I was furious, but Mr. Adams looked me right in the eyes and there was a harsh look on his face.

"You have three days to get rid of the dog," he said, "and if you don't we are going to have to take him ourselves." Catcher started barking as if he understood what the guy just said.

"And where would you be taking him, to get him put to sleep?" Soda asked reluctantly.

"No," Mrs. Walker replied, "We will take him to the shelter where he can be adopted by another family." I found myself speechless, I could neither move nor speak. In a haze I watched the social workers get up from the couch, walk towards the door and leave.

When they left I was holding on to Catcher for dear life. I was ready to burst into tears. I truly loved Catcher, and I grew so accustomed to him that I couldn't imagine my life without him, not to mention I was worried about what kind of family would adopt him, maybe they'll leave him in the snow again.

"Pony are you sure you don't know what this is about?" Soda asked softly.

"Oh, I know what this is about, alright." I plopped on the couch next to him, Catcher on my lap. Soda was looking at me expectantly, and Darry walked in from the kitchen.

"Last week this bastard Harris asked me to be a pusher, and I said no, and he got pissed. Now he is getting back at me. I wonder how and where did he get medical bills to say that he went to the doctor after a dog bite?" Then I remembered, "Actually I remember him saying his mother is a billing clerk at the doctor's office. I bet she made phony bills for him."

"What a hell are we going to do?" I covered my eyes with my hands. "There is no way I'm getting rid of Catcher."

"There is nothing we can do," Soda patted me on the shoulder. I gritted my teeth. "There is something. We can go to court."

"We don't have money to pay for a lawyer," Darry leaned against the wall and looked down.

"We don't need a lawyer. I will represent myself." I got up from the couch and went to the middle of the room.

"And say what?"

"I don't know, the truth. They can't just take Catcher away." I caught my reflection in the mirror and noticed how upset, but also mad I looked.

At dinner I was just sitting at the table, poking the food with the fork, not really eating. Finally I asked to be excused and went to my room. I got a sheet of paper and started writing down what I can tell the judge if we went to court.

In three days the social workers returned. Needless to say we didn't get rid of Catcher.

"I'm sorry, but we have to take him," Mr. Adams said, but I could tell he was just saying it, he wasn't sorry at all. He grabbed Catcher, and Catcher started to whine. It sounded like he was crying. It was breaking my heart. I bit my lower lip to prevent myself from crying. "It's ok buddy, it's only for a little while," I choked up, "we are going to get you back, I promise," my voice was trembling.

Darry was standing a little to the side looking at me, a pained expression on his face. Soda was on the couch and he covered his face with his hands. The social worker rushed out the door before something bad happened, and proceeded to go to the car. We watched out the window how Catcher tried to get free from his grip. Just like that they were gone.

My eyes were wet and I wiped them with my sleeve. Then I turned to face Darry. The expression on his face was sad, like he was apologizing for what happened.

"Go to court tomorrow and get a hearing against them," I said firmly even though my lower lip was trembling and I was about to start bawling.

"Ponyboy…," he started, "do you really think it's a good idea?" he sighed tiredly.

"Of course, we got to get him back." I wiped a tear with the back of my hand.

"Ok, I'll do it," he sighed again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok, so here is another update. Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed and favorited/followed.**

The next day Darry filled out an application for hearing against the social services. It was a hearing, not a trial. That meant no lawyers, no spectators – only us, the social workers, Shawn and the judge. We had to wait two weeks though before the hearing. I was miserable. I got so used to getting home from school or form work and Catcher would run to greet me and I would pick him up and give him treats. I was used to him sitting at my feet as I was doing my homework or reading, and of course I missed playing with him and walking him.

During the two weeks I did not talk to Shawn, and acted as if I didn't know who he was. I was ready to see him in court. I could see in the corner of my eye he was glaring at me. I guess he got a letter saying he had to go to court and was mad. I'll show him, I thought. He thinks he can just do something like this, and I would let it go.

Finally it was the day of the hearing. The room was huge, but empty –no spectators were allowed to the hearing. I was pretty happy about that. No need having spectators watching my life like it was some kind of TV show, Perry Mason or something. The judge was a man, who looked to be forty or so, which I thought was pretty young for a judge. He had blond hair and blue eyes, and was of pretty small built - the robe swallowing him.

We were made to swear to tell the truth and then the hearing began. Mr. Adams of social services had this confident look on his face like this was just a bother to him and he was doing everyone a favor appearing in court. Darry and I stood on one side of the room, and Mr. Adams and Mrs. Walker on the other.

"So this case is number 1348 on the account of Curtis vs. Tulsa consultation center," the judge's assistant announced in a monotone, bored voice, and then the judge went ahead and told what our case against the social services was about - that they wrongfully took the dog, and that the dog never went to Harris' yard, never barked disturbing the peace and never bit Shawn.

"Sounds right?" the judge asked us, and we nodded.

"Is that right?" he then asked the social workers.

"No it's not," Mr. Adams said annoyed expression on his face and crossing his arms on his chest. The h judge was not amused.

"Uncross your arms," he ordered, giving him a warning look, "There is only one attitude in this court room Mr. Adams," the judge said, "and that's mine." I smiled, I liked this judge already. Way to show this arrogant man who's the boss. "Now what part of what I just said you don't agree with Mr. Adams?" the judge asked.

"We have a witness that the dog has been to his yard and he bit him and he went to the doctor…"

"Don't tell me what he said or did that's hearsay and does not have any meaning in court." The judge interrupted him, "Is your witness here?" Mrs. Walker nodded and pointed at Shawn, who was sitting next to his mother in the front row.

"Stan up the," judge ordered. Shawn stood up, and walked up to the stand.

"Is it true that Mr. Curtis' dog went into your yard and disturbed peace?"

"Yes your honor," he replied firmly. I felt my heart beat faster, this bastard, is the judge going to believe him, is he going to get away with his lies?

"Is it also true," the judge continued, "that Mr. Curtis' dong bit you and you had to seek medical help as a result?"

"Yes your honor."

"What proof do you have?"

"I have bills from the doctor."

"I'd like to see them." The judge's assistant walked up to Shawn and took the bills form him and gave them to the judge.

The judge looked at the bills carefully and then looked up. "These bills show that Mr. Harris had to seek medical help as a result of dog bite. What do you have to say to that Mr. Curtis?"

"They are phony," I snapped. I was furious. I caught Darry's look, and it was helpless and hopeless.

"Excuse me?" the judge gave me a meaningful look.

"The bills, they are not real." I said calmer this time. I felt really nervous, my palms were sweaty, but I was prepared to fight. I needed to fight for Catcher.

"Please elaborate." The judge took his glasses off and put them on the desk.

"His mother works as a billing clerk at the doctor's office. She made up some phony bills." I spat in one breath.

"This is a serious accusation, Mr. Curtis." The judge looked me right in the eyes.

"I know, but it's the truth." I said dead serious.

"Is this true?" the judge looked at Shawn.

"Absolutely not." he shook his head, then glanced at me with an obnoxious smile as if daring me.

"But is it true that your mother is a billing clerk at the medical office?" the judge seemed to be taken aback a little.

"It's true, your honor, but she didn't make phony bills."

"Well," the judge sighed, "I believe you, but it is a little suspicious that you went to see the doctor in that particular office where you mother works."

"It's the only medical office in our neighborhood," he lied, despise in his voice.

"That's not true," I called out.

The judge looked at me disapproval in his gaze. "Mr. Curtis, please don't interrupt the hearing. I gave you an opportunity to speak, now it's Mr. Harris' turn."

Then the judge turned his attention back to Shawn. "Well, it's very simple," the judge said, "If right now I call Dr. Nicolson he will tell me that he had seen you on …"the judge looked at the bill, "September 20th for a dog bite. Is this right, will he tell me that?" Shawn seemed to pale a little but nodded.

"He is bluffing," I yelled. The judge looked like he was fed up with me. "You interrupt one more time Mr. Curtis and I'll dismiss your case."

"I am sorry," I mumbled, looking down.

"Ok then this court is adjourned. I'm going to make a phone call and we will continue the hearing."

The judge proceeded to get up and started walking towards the back door when Shawn's mother got up from her seat. "Please no," she yelled, "I will lose my job."

"What's that Mrs. Harris?" the judge moved back to his seat. Shawn's mom started crying - "I'll lose my job if they find out what I did," she looked helplessly at her son then started sobbing.

"So is it true then?" the judge said, "that you fabricated medical bills for your son?" She nodded while looking down. "I'm sorry. He asked me to do it and I agreed."

"Shame on you Mrs. Harris," the judge said. Then looked up at us. "I order that the dog is returned to the Curtis within seven days from today's date by the Tulsa consultation center."

"We can't do that," Mr. Adams said.

"Why not?" the judge sounded annoyed.

"We placed the dog in the shelter and it's been adopted by another family."

"I don't care about that," the judge said. "You have seven days to get him back and return him to the Curtis."

For a second there I felt relieved when the judge ordered social services to return Catcher, but now I was worried again since they said another family has already adopted Catcher. How are they going to be able to return him to us?

The next day I got home from work when the phone rang.

"Hello?" I picked up the receiver.

"Hi my name is Rachel Allen. I need to speak with Darryl Curtis or…" there was a pause, "Ponyboy Curtis."

"This is Ponyboy," I replied, searching my mind for anyone I knew with that last name. There was another pause then the woman started speaking. "You don't know me, I'm the one who adopted a dog form the shelter and now I'm being told that I have to return fluffy to you."Fluffy, that's a cat's name I thought dully and rolled my eyes even though she obviously couldn't see me.

"His name is Catcher," I snapped. She was silent then cleared her throat and said, "my three year old daughter is really fond of him maybe you can reconsider." I felt bad I was sure her child loved the dog just as I loved him. I was silent I felt bad, but there was no way I would let her keep Catcher.

"I'm sorry ma'am," I said, sitting down in Darry's recliner, "I'm sure your daughter loves him but so do I. It was just a really bad mix up that he was taken away from us. I'm sure you can adopt another dog for your daughter."

"But she already loves this one," the woman protested.

"Sorry," I leaned into the chair, then added, "It is a court order that the dog is returned to us."

"Ok if you say so," her voice was shaking all of the sudden. I felt like such an asshole but I still needed to have Catcher back. I hung up the phone feeling really bad. I told Darry and Soda about the phone call, and they both took my side.

The next morning we got a phone call that we could go pick Catcher up from social services. "What, it is beneath them to bring him back, we have to go there?" Soda complained.

When we got there the receptionist eyed us suspiciously then called a social worker. We explained that we were there to pick up Catcher. She led us down the hallway to another room, where to my dismay I saw Catcher all alone in the room, his leash tied around a chair. I jammed my palms into fists, I was outraged. When Catcher saw me he started barking violently and tried to run towards me which of course he couldn't because his leash was tied up.

The woman untied the leash and Catcher leapt to me in one leap. He looked exhausted and he lost a lot of weight. I knelt down to his level, "here Catcher, I'm here boy we are going home." He started licking my hands. The woman that led us there didn't seem to share the joy. "You need to go now," she stated matter of factly.

"No problem, with that, I can't wait to get out of here," I snapped, and she rolled her eyes.

When we got home I fed Catcher and gave him a bath, and then he ran to my room and stretched out in his dog bed resting his head on his paws. I was watching him, and I felt a tear roll down my cheek - we almost lost him for good.


End file.
